Global Vaccination Coverage: DTP, Measles and Zero-Dose Children

WHO and UNICEF publish annual Estimates of National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC) based on data reported by member states and on published surveys [4]. In 2025, 90% of infants globally, nearly 116 million, received at least one DTP dose and 85%, or 110 million, completed the three-dose series [1]. Both indicators rose by one percentage point from the previous year but remain one point below 2019 levels [1].

An estimated 13.5 million zero-dose children did not receive a single vaccine in their first year in 2025, nearly 750,000 fewer than the year before [1]. More than half of zero-dose children live in fragile, conflict-affected or vulnerable settings, which account for only about a third of the world's child population [1].

In the 2024 round, WHO and UNICEF reported 14.3 million zero-dose children, 1.4 million more than in 2019, and nearly 20 million infants who missed at least one DTP dose [2]. Over the past 25 years the annual number of zero-dose children has fallen by 40% [1].

In 2025, 7.3 million infants received their first DTP dose but dropped out before their first measles dose [1]. Measles first-dose (MCV1) coverage was 84% and second-dose (MCV2) coverage was 77%, both far short of the 95% threshold needed to prevent outbreaks [1]. 57 countries reported large or disruptive measles outbreaks in 2025 [1].

In 2024 WHO reported 1.7 million fewer measles zero-dose children than in 2023 [3]. In 2022, MCV1 coverage stood at 83%, below the 2019 level of 86%, and MCV2 coverage at 74% [5].

Compared with their 2019 baselines, the Americas and South-East Asia regions have fully recovered, and South-East Asia is now the highest performing region [1]. Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe gained in 2025 but remain below pre-pandemic levels, while the Western Pacific declined and is furthest below its 2019 baseline [1].

Of 195 countries, 100 have kept DTP3 coverage at 90% or more since 2019 [1]. Of those below 90% in 2019, 30 improved, while 65 are stagnating or falling behind [1]. Sudan increased DTP1 coverage by 35 percentage points in 2025, while South Africa's DTP1 coverage has fallen 20 points since 2019 [1].

WHO and UNICEF warn that the full impact of recent cuts to international health financing is not yet reflected in the estimates [1]. Only 18 national immunization surveys were submitted in the 2025 round, down from 50 in 2024 and an average of 33 a year in 2015-2019 [1]. In Gavi-supported countries, average coverage across a full course of WHO-recommended vaccines is 74% [1].

Figures for 2025 come from the WHO-UNICEF press release of 15 July 2026 [1]. Figures for 2024 come from the 15 July 2025 release as first published [2]. WUENIC series, including history, are revised every year, so the 2024 values shown here may differ from revised values in the 2026 round; for example, the 2026 release states that DTP1 and DTP3 rose by one point in 2025, which implies a revised 2024 DTP3 value of about 84%. Measles values for 2019 and 2022 come from an earlier WHO/PAHO WUENIC fact sheet [5]. Coverage is the percentage of the target infant cohort vaccinated. Zero-dose children are infants who did not receive a first DTP dose. No FREEE.REPORT calculations were used.